Financial Adviser Sees 2023 as Transition Year

Need a financial New Year’s resolution for 2023?

Debra Brennan Tagg has one for you: “Stay nimble and resilient.”

The president of BFS Advisory Group in Preston Center bills herself as a “female-focused financial planner,” meaning she aims to empower women with the knowledge and confidence to make the informed and effective money management decisions required to live the lives they seek.

However, her financial industry leadership extends beyond any one gender.

The nationally recognized speaker chairs the Advisor Group National Advisor Board, which provides strategic guidance to 11,000-plus advisers nationwide.

Yet, Tagg conceded plenty of unknowns linger as a year of fluctuating fuel prices, runaway inflation, ongoing supply chain troubles, and international turmoil draws to a close.

“In my career, I have never seen so much hinge on monthly inflation readings,” she said. “The belief, of course, is that if inflation comes down, the Fed can stop raising rates. This will ease some of the pressure caused by rising rates on the economy and financial markets.”

But that optimism comes with an uncertain timeline.

“The problem is that the American consumer continues to buy at these higher prices, and no one knows when that will subside,” she said. “We believe the first half of 2023 will still be volatile in the financial markets as the economy searches for a direction.”

Tagg views 2023 as a transition year with an ongoing “paradigm shift in the financial markets that many don’t fully understand yet.”

“The near-zero interest rate environment that we have been in since the financial crisis is over,” she explained. “We are moving into an environment with more normalized interest rates, with expectations that we will see a range closer to 3-4%.”